Celiac Sharman Hnatiuk knows how to plan a dinner party around peole with food intolerances. This one features short ribs with gorgonzola mashed potatoes and market carrots. For dessert, a gluten-free dark chocolate almond cake rounds the meal out.Bruce Edwards
/ Edmonton Journal

A gluten-free dark chocolate almond cake is a recipe that people with or without celiac disease can enjoy.Bruce Edwards
/ Edmonton Journal

Recipes from Carla Kelly’s Vegan Al Fresco are geared to the barbecue season, with lots of options for omnivores, vegetarians and those with food sensitivities.Supplied
/ supplied

EDMONTON - A hard-core vegetarian, a diehard meat-man, and a pregnant naturopath who eats only organic, but no dairy. Local chiropractor Marcy Lampshire looked at her guest list and sighed. What could she feed her beloved band of fussy friends that would suit all comers? Oh, and keep in mind that Lampshire herself is gluten-intolerant, her gut bulging and twisting if she dares subject it to wheat products.

Making numerous dishes for different food preferences takes time and it also threatens to destroy the bonds formed when people gather in community to break bread.

“I want us all to eat together and I don’t want them to feel as if they are ... problematic,” says Lampshire of all the guests she invites into her home. “I want them to feel welcome.”

Such is the dilemma of the modern host. At a time when more and more people have food-related allergies, intolerances and downright diseases — it’s hard to know what to feed a crowd come dinner. As a sensitive host, how do you cater to the dietary needs of an assortment of guests, or should you even bother? After all, one man’s pain may be another man’s game: there is a wide spectrum between disease and preference, spanned by foods from milk to nuts.

Thoughtful guests also face an uncomfortable situation. Do they tell their host what they can and can’t eat, or what they dislike? Or do they just suck it up?

Randall MacDonald, a professional party planner and etiquette specialist, says this is a no-brainer.

“If it’s a food allergy, medically documented, absolutely they should be telling somebody,” says Macdonald, known for throwing divine parties with theme-related food and drink. “If it’s a preference, they should keep it to themselves. And that includes being a vegetarian.”

Good etiquette, says MacDonald, demands that a guest should not make a host feel uncomfortable about what he or she is serving. If, however, there is a clear medical condition involved, Macdonald says guests should sound the alarm early, giving the host the opportunity to un-invite them. This need not be as nasty as it sounds. If you were planning a community lobster boil, and someone is allergic to shellfish, simply deferring their invitation to another day just makes sense.

“I follow the adage of my mother,” says MacDonald. “You eat what is set in front of you. I don’t like beets, but if I am at someone’s house and there are beets on the plate, I eat them. They’re not going to kill me.”

For people with diagnosed medical conditions, however, some foods will prove, if not necessarily immediately lethal, certainly unpleasant. Nobody knows that better than food blogger Sharman Hnatiuk. Diagnosed with celiac disease four years ago, Hnatiuk can’t eat gluten, found in wheat and other grains including oats and barley. Gluten causes the white blood cells in those with celiac disease (who carry a genetic mutation) to attack the intestine, causing significant and painful problems.

When Hnatiuk gets invited to someone’s house for dinner, she tells them she has dietary restrictions.

“I never assume or expect people will cook gluten-free for me because it is challenging and it is expensive,” says Hnatiuk. “I’m happy to come, but I can eat before, or bring my own snacks.”

Even if a host makes an effort to cook gluten-free, by avoiding wheat pastas or crusts, it might not be enough. Gluten is in many foods, from soy sauce to Worcestershire, and there is a risk of cross contamination in the average kitchen — a risk that is too large for Hnatiuk to take.

“If they do want to cook something for me, I ask a ton of questions,” she says.

(For more information on medically-diagnosed conditions of the gut, see my interview with Dr. Richard Fedorak, found at Eat My Words Blog.)

Carla Kelly, a vegan from Vancouver who has just released a new cookbook, looks at the issue from both perspectives — that of the cook, and the diner.

“Having a dinner party is about sharing food together,” says Kelly, author of Vegan Al Fresco, which is about summer cooking without animal products, including dairy, eggs or honey.

Eating delicious dishes together provides common ground, and aids conversation. Generally, Kelly just eats things she doesn’t particularly care for if they are served at the host’s table, but if someone tried to fork a piece of meat onto her plate, she would refuse it, even though being a vegan is not a medical condition.

Kelly’s creative solution is to tell people she’s vegan when she gets a dinner party invitation, and to offer to bring a vegan dish that’s large enough for everyone to share — thereby introducing new experiences all the way around. She says summer barbecues make it easy for hosts to offer choices by preparing a selection of salads served alongside grilled salmon, steak or tofu burgers.

Hnatiuk agrees that there are lots of dishes suitable for friends with different food requirements. She makes a mean gluten-free Dark Chocolate Almond cake (found online at theblindtaste.com). She often cooks a robust vegetable curry for vegetarian guests, and adds an animal protein last-minute for those who eat meat or fish. Before she was diagnosed a celiac, Hnatiuk might have been offended by someone who didn’t want to eat what was offered. But now she recognizes a dinner party is as much about the company as the food, and no long minds that one of her regular guests actually brings her own Swiss Chalet to dinner parties.

But, just FYI, here’s what really bugs her: There will be a young woman, at a party, holding a beer (full of gluten-rich barley). She claims to be celiac.

“I say, ‘Have you been diagnosed?’ ” says Hnatiuk. “And she says, ‘No, I just feel better.’ For me, it’s the people who are faking celiac that upset me.”

But back to chiropractor Marcy Lampshire and her dinner party challenge. In the end, she went with a gourmet Mexican theme. Corn tortillas worked for the gluten-intolerant, and everybody could eat the salsa and guacamole. She made goat-cheese enchiladas (goat’s milk is less troublesome for those with dairy issues), and also roasted a pork shoulder that she shredded for those who craved meat in a taco.

For dessert? Pavlova (meringue) with homemade lemon curd and berries. Lampshire left the whipped cream off for the lactose-intolerant. It was no big deal.

“People are in my home because I love them,” says Lampshire. “It’s not ruining my mojo or anything (if they can’t eat certain things). Cooking is not a big creative experience for me. I do it because I care about them.”

Here are a couple of suggestions for recipes to suit all diners developed by Carla Kelly of Vegan Al Fresco.

Roasted Beet and Quinoa Salad

Roasted beets add an earthy touch to a dish. In this salad, they are paired with nutty quinoa and lifted by the slight bitterness of the greens. If you can’t find beets with greens attached, use another lightly bitter green such as arugula. Makes 6 servings. Preparation time: 60 minutes, including roasting time.

3 medium beets, any colour, with greens attached

2 tablespoons (25 mL) olive oil

1 tablespoon (15 mL) white balsamic vinegar

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

14 cup (60 mL) white wine or vegetable stock

1 tablespoon (15 mL) olive oil

1 teaspoon (5 mL) smooth Dijon mustard

12 teaspoon (2 mL) garlic powder

12 teaspoon (2 mL) onion powder

12 cup (125 mL) finely chopped red bell peppers

14 cup (60 mL) finely chopped red onions

1 cup (250 mL) cooked and cooled white or red quinoa

Preheat oven to 425F/220C. Remove greens from beets and set aside in refrigerator. Peel and cube beets. On a roasting pan, toss beets with 2 tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, and a little salt and pepper. Roast beets for 40 to 45 minutes, until tender and slightly caramelized. Set aside beets in a large bowl, then deglaze pan with white wine. Add liquid, after deglazing, to bowl. Cool to room temperature.

In a medium saucepan fitted with a steamer basket, steam potatoes for 8 to 10 minutes, until fork tender. Refresh under cold running water, drain, and cool to room temperature.

In same pan, steam asparagus for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender. Refresh under cold running water, drain, and cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, brine, mustard, agave, salt, and pepper until well emulsified. Stir in pickles, garlic, and shallots. Add potatoes and asparagus and toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Taste and season as desired before serving.

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